Police Beat and Community Briefs for Jan. 19, 2010

Tuesday

Jan 19, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 19, 2010 at 1:00 AM

A roundup of news briefs from around the region.

Staff reports

Four charged in attempted robberyOcala police arrested four people early Monday at the Economy Inn at 3250 West State Road 40 and charged them with attempted armed home invasion robbery.According to a news release, officers responded to the hotel at just before 2 a.m. after a guest reported three masked men with a gun near their room.Upon arrival, officers found the three men near a vehicle in the parking lot. Two of the men attempted to flee on foot, but were caught.The three men are: Timothy Swinton, 27; Ameil Hernandez, 22; and Terrance Lewis, 19.A fourth person, Lissette Guerrero, 22, was identified as being involved and was later arrested. Woman charged with two DUIsA woman arrested Saturday on a charge of driving under the influence was arrested Monday and again charged with DUI.According to officials, Samantha Stilwell, 43, of Ocala, was arrested Saturday night by a sheriff's deputy. When he stopped her vehicle, Stilwell was wearing pajamas and no shoes.The same deputy early Monday morning saw a vehicle driving erratically and stopped it. Stilwell again was clad in pajamas and without shoes.She failed several field sobriety exercises and was transported to the Marion County Jail. There, breath alcohol tests revealed levels of .219, .198 and .226. The legal limit in Florida is .08.According to the report, Stilwell twice asked the deputy to charge her with reckless driving as getting "two DUIs on the same weekend would not look good."

Two vehicles stolen from woman's yardSUMMERFIELD — Sheriff's officials responded Sunday to a reported burglary where items were taken from an open storage area behind a home in the 9000 block of Southeast 155th Street. The victim had been out of town and noticed when she returned that items including a 1984 Dodge 600 convertible and a 1987 Rockwood motorhome were gone. A witness told officials he had seen a white female with blond hair, standing approximately 5 foot 6 and weighing about 140 pounds and driving a blue Suburban, there Thursday. She told the man she was the homeowner's granddaughter, Michelle. The man told officials that on Thursday and Friday he saw four black males, in two different vehicles, at the property. The victim told officials she does not have a granddaughter named Michelle.Anyone with information can call MCSO at 732-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 368-7867.

Suspect takes one pack of cigarettes The Kangaroo Express at 6963 N. U.S. 441 was robbed early Monday by a suspect who got away with only a single pack of cigarettes.The clerk told officials he came out of a supply closet to find a white man wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, black pants and a black turban concealing his face behind the counter attempting to open a cash register. The suspect implied he had a gun, but none was evident. The clerk told officials he told the suspect there was only $20 in the register, "not worth stealing." He said the man left the store and walked north towards a nearby supermarket. Surveillance video shows the suspect removing the pack of cigarettes.Anyone with information can call the Sheriff's Office at 732-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 368-7867.

Wire among items reported stolenAuthorities responded Sunday to a reported theft of copper wire, an iron, an ironing board and extensive damage to a duplex in the 5000 block of Northwest 14th Street.The owner told deputies she often works out of town and had returned to the property to find damages to drywall in several rooms and to an air handler. Electrical sockets reportedly were laying on the ground, with copper wires cut from them. The report notes damages estimated at $9,500.Neighbors had earlier filed a suspicious incident report when they noticed two black males at the residence with electrical wiring and scrap metal on a utility trailer. Anyone with information can call the Sheriff's Office at 732-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 368-7867.

Man returns home to find it robbedSILVER SPRINGS SHORES — Sheriff's deputies were called Sunday morning when a man who recently married and had been staying at his wife's residence returned to find his home broken into and items missing.The victim, who now lives in Palm Coast, told officials the missing items included two televisions, $300 in cash, a Lexmark printer, a computer monitor and several books of collectible coins valued at $5,000 and his father's gold pocket watch. Candy wrappers and ashes were found in several locations and the wrappers are being processed for fingerprints. Anyone with information can call the Sheriff's Office at 732-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 368-7867.

Woman, 33, charged with child abuseA 33-year-old woman was arrested Sunday night and charged with physical child abuse after officials matched a belt pattern to marks on the arm of a 12-year-old girl. Arriving to a report of a domestic disturbance, the girl ran to deputies crying and asking for help, saying her mother had been hitting her with a belt.The woman repeatedly told authorities that nothing was wrong. Officials said they detected a strong odor of alcohol on the woman, who began yelling and cursing. The victim provided a sworn statement and she and a 16-year-old boy were released with permission of their father, who was out of town, to an uncle. DCF was notified.The woman was then taken to the Marion County Jail.

Five graduate from City Watch programChief Samuel Williams of the Ocala Police Department recently awarded badges to five graduates of the agency's City Watch program.The volunteers — Florence Craine, Edgar Garcia, Kenneth Gray, Al Pitts and Ryder Shisgal — completed 12 weeks of training and will now do patrol work as well as many other police functions. For more information about the program, call Cpl. C.F. Denny at 351-2599.

Travolta gala ticket sales start todayTickets for the "From Paris With Love" movie premiere gala with John Travolta and Kelly Preston go on sale today at the CFCC Foundation office at Central Florida Community College.This is a different ticket location than event organizers had announced last week. The gala will raise money for several local causes, including a new CFCC scholarship in honor of the Travoltas' son, the late Jett Travolta.The event will start at 6 p.m. Feb. 4 with a sit-down dinner at Golden Ocala. Dinner will include a French wine bar, silent auction, mimes, a charcoal artist and a string quartet.Guests then will travel to Regal's Hollywood 16 for a private screening of "From Paris With Love." There will be no red-carpet walk into the theater.The CFCC Foundation will sell about 300 tickets for $300 apiece. The CFCC Foundation office is on the second floor of the college's Enterprise Center, 3001 S.W. College Road. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Fla. Blood Centers to donate to Haiti fundFor every blood donation at Florida's Blood Centers through Monday, the organization will donate $1 to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.The Ocala location is at 1051 S.W. First Ave.Florida's Blood Centers also is donating bottled water to relief efforts.The U.S. Armed Services Blood Program is coordinating blood shipments to Haiti.Florida's Blood Centers encourages donors to give blood to make sure the supply at home is adequate.If the agency is asked to provide blood to Haiti, however, they will respond.For more information, call 732-0175 or 1-888-936-6283, or visit floridasbloodcenters.org.

SECO receives high marks in surveyAn annual survey on behalf of SECO by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association lets SECO officials learn opinions of member/consumers.Barry Bowman, director of corporate communications, said in a news release, "A statistically valid sample of members in Marion, Lake, Citrus and Sumter counties were surveyed. Members continue to think highly of their cooperative, with a mean overall satisfaction rating of 8.92 on a 10-point scale."A series of questions compared SECO to other types of companies seeking a rating on the American Customer Satisfaction Index."SECO's score of 85 was one of the highest in the industry," said Bowman.